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Long Distance Dial Up Access Charges

How To Avoid Connecting With A Long Distance Number

Dial up Internet is an old technology that appears to be here to stay for a while. Most consumers first connected to the Internet through dial up, and according to a recent poll over 45% of Americans that use the Internet wish to continue using dial up. With dial up providers, such as Netzero, offering quality accelerated dialup service for low cost, its makes the move to broadband less necessary for many users.

As the Internet revolution moved forward and broadband became more common, less discussion was heard about a very serious problem that occurred with alarming frequency in the early and mid 1990's: unintentional long distance fees. Most often these would occur when a customer would incorrectly configure their modem to dial a long distance number to make an Internet connection. Customers would also frequently be mistaken as too what numbers were long distance. Here will discuss these issues, as well as a few new ones that should be avoided.

 

Dial Up Modem Phone Numbers

Dial up users should be cautious when configuring a modems dial up phone numbers. The modem will support a primary number as well as one or more back up numbers. It is very important that ALL of these numbers be either local or toll free because a long distance number in this list could lead to truly outrageous long distance charges.

Some dial up numbers can have the same area code a consumer and still be long distance. This issue alone has caused issues with many dial up points of presence, and can be confusing. Local ISPs will rarely be able to tell consumers which numbers are local to them with any real accuracy and the safest solution is to call the phone company and ask them.

Once a number has been verified as local, only then should it be used as a primary or secondary dialer connection. It might be wise to keep a list of local numbers near your computer and periodically check them against your dialer's list of possible connections. It is also wise to remember that numbers and zones change, and a local number today could be a long distance number in the future.

Another possible solution is to block long distance calls completely. This can be done with a simple call to the local phone company. Obviously this works best when a computer has its own phone line as few consumers would wish to block long distance calls completely. With this solution in place it becomes impossible for a computer to make a long distance call.

 

Dial Up Modem Hijacking

Modem hijacking occurs when a dialer is either rewritten or overridden by a different software program. There are many entertainment programs that offer “fee” products or services but require the consumer to use their proprietary dialer; often these products are adult in nature. This new dialer has its own set of numbers, and some may be long distance. These programs can be malicious in nature, and most virus scans will warn against using them.

Once this software is installed, getting rid of it can be aggravating. This type of service is best avoided, or if necessary used with great caution. Anything that takes control of a consumers modem should be looked at with skepticism.

 
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